From prime-time sitcoms (BIG BANG THEORY) to late night TV (JIMMY FALLON) to a fashion accessory for pop stars (LADY GAGA), Doodle Jump is EVERYWHERE! It's a cultural craze, a hot new trend!

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It sounded like something of a threat at the time, but Lima Sky has finally delivered on its aim to hit 4 million sales on the iPhone with its stellar hit Doodle Jump.

Though clones in one form or another have been hitting the App Store since it was released, Doodle Jump actually achieved its goal in quick time, having only surpassed the 3 million mark last month.

At the time, co-founder Igor Pusenjak joked Doodle Jump would more than likely beat rival developer PopCap to 4 million downloads on the iPhone and iPod Touch, but having now achieved said feat, the title has become the best selling game on the App Store in the platform’s history.

It might not be a surprise, then, that Lima Sky has already set its sights on Apple’s latest iDevice. The studio announced recently that an iPad version is already in the works.

It’s long been on the studio’s potential to-do list– Pusenjak revealing back in March that he wanted to hold an iPad before deciding whether to work on it or not– but rather than simply rushing out an HD edition, Lima Sky is said to be experimenting with all manner of sizes to ensure Doodle Jump iPad reaches the same height as its iPhone-based cousin.

It’s worth pointing out (for the sake of our lawyers) that Lima Sky’s Igor Pusenjak isn’t being entirely serious when he claims Doodle Jump will ‘beat PopCap’ to 4 million. Still, his statement is testament to just how well Doodle Jump is doing on the App Store.

Just over a week ago, Doodle Jump smashed through the 3 million sales barrier on the App Store. Its publisher claimed that this feat made the game the most successful release from an independent developer currently on the iPhone.

PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies can’t be far behind, since it became the fastest selling game in the App Store’s history back in February when it was downloaded more than 300,000 times in just nine days.

In an interview with PocketGamer, Pusenjak says regular updates have been the key to Doodle Jump’s success, and may well ensure that it hits that 4 million milestone soon.

“We dropped out of the US top 100 chart in the summer. It would have been easy to give up but we decided to push it and do the Pocket God thing and regularly update Doodle Jump,” said Pusenjak.

“I’ve been trying to work out who’s going to be first to 4 million. I think we’ll beat PopCap,” he added, somewhat jokingly.

It would seem there are still updates aplenty in line for Doodle Jump, as Pusenjak told the site that he prefers the model of ‘doing a minimal release and then adding more content”.

“It drives activity as people want to see what’s new and it encourages them back to play the game. Bigger developers and publishers just don’t get constant updates. For some reason it’s not the way they can work. Only the smaller developers seem to care enough.”

Success breeds competition, however. Pusenjak’s comments were published on the same day Apple approved what can only be described as a blatant Doodle Jump clone for release. Doodle Jumper, developed by CoolGame Studios, is available for sale on the App Store as we speak, and its creators describe it as “the best doodle game” out there.

iPhone gamers have been ranting about Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump for several weeks now, and not without cause. Those who appreciate PapiJump’s witless yet addictive gameplay are sure to enjoy the equally fun Doodle Jump.

Doodle Jump epitomizes the microgame ideal, in that it’s best played with one hand while killing time. We’d even play it while idling at some of the longer red lights in San Francisco, if we thought we could get away with it.

In Doodle Jump, a strange, squid-like creature makes its way up an endless series of platforms, jumping from one to the next. Tilt the phone to maneuver it in mid-air (it’ll wrap around if you bounce off the screen), and tap the screen to shoot directly upwards.

The vertical play field is littered with objects to help and hinder you. Springs bounce you about three times higher than normal, but as you gain altitude, the more often you’ll encounter floating baddies to blast, as well as rotten platforms that will snap under your weight, black holes, and other kinds of hazards. It starts to get pretty tough around 20,000 points.

As you climb, you’ll also notice hash marks along the side of the screen denoting the top altitudes of other players around the world–a neat way to make online score competition a little more personal. We imagine that this excellent feature will be ripped off by every other microgame from now on.

The whole expanse is laid out on simulated graph paper; in fact, everything in the game looks like something we drew in high school geometry class while bored out of our minds. There are some funny sound effects, but no iPod music.

If you’re looking for a new timewaster, invest 99 cents in Doodle Jump. It’s not going to rock your world, but it’ll sure as heck keep you sane at the DMV.

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